Trojans upset bid falls just short in last second loss to Mount Vernon

On the road against their third straight top-10 opponent, the Taylor Trojans played a hard fought contest against No. 6 Mount Vernon Nazarene, but a last second basket by the Cougars gave the Trojans a 71-70 defeat on Saturday afternoon.

CJ Penha and Jason Hubbard helped the Trojans take a seven-point lead in the first half on back-to-back triples, but a tightly contested affair in the opening 20 minutes led to a 33-33 tie.

Both teams continued to go toe-to-toe with one another after halftime, with the Trojans taking a slim one-point advantage with a minute to go in the contest. After the Cougars regained the advantage on two made free throws, Ryan Robinson scored with 17 seconds left put Taylor back in front in the game’s final moments.

Unfortunately, the Cougars had one more shot in them, and they made it count, sinking a field goal at the buzzer to halt Taylor’s upset bid.

The Trojans shot well in the second half, knocking down 50 percent of their attempts while converting their free throws at an 86.7 percent clip.

Penha continues his recent strong play, leading the Trojans with 17 points, while Vincent Miranda recorded 15 points on three triples. Robinson finished with 13, while Evan Crowe added 10.